14 DAY TRIAL // Snow leopards are presently listed as an endangered species, and recent estimates inform us that as few as 450 such big cats are still living in Pakistan. As is the case with numerous animals, conflicts with farmers are what cause many of them to be killed.
More precisely, because snow leopards sometimes feed on livestock, farmers do not keep them very close at heart and hunt them whenever circumstances supposedly demand for it.
Several conservationists now argue that, in order to keep this species of big cats from becoming extinct and put an end to their ongoing battle with farmers, the best thing to do is list them as domestic animals.
What they mean by this is that, should snow leopards acquire a new status, people whose livestock has been attacked by them will receive compensations. Because of this, they will no longer feel the need to resort to retaliation.
Global Animal quotes conservationist and wildlife specialist Shafqat Hussain, who not very long ago wished to emphasize that, “When I say that snow leopards are like domestic cats, I mean it rhetorically to make contrast with the word 'wild'.”
To cut a long story short, these conservationists claim that, because snow leopards are forced by circumstances to coexist with humans, we might as well call things by their name and admit that these big cats no longer belong to the wilderness alone.
“Are they [the snow leopards] really wild in the sense that we attach to the word 'wild' – existing on its own, having no connection with society and domestic economy?” Shafqat Hussain asks.
As was to be expected, this proposal sparked quite a controversy, and many as presently debating whether or not this particular species should be listed as a domestic one in the not so distant future.
Just for the record, Shafqat Hussain's Snow Leopard Project, whose bases were set back in 1999, is already offering compensations to various locals who had their livestock attacked and killed by these animals.